Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Meat from abattoir not certified

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The absence of a veterinary surgeon has forced the City Corporation to bypass the mandatory meat-certification procedure at its slaughterhouse at Kunnukuzhy.

The meat slaughtered at the abattoir has not been certified since last December when the veterinary surgeon L. Ravikumar left after being promoted as Deputy Director in the Department of Animal Husbandry.

The State government later issued an order giving Dr. Ravikumar additional charge of the slaughterhouse for three months. But Dr. Ravikumar said he had not received a formal request from the Corporation to take charge. “The GO [Government order] was not even endorsed,” he said.

“The Corporation itself is now guilty of unauthorised slaughter. Without certification, the abattoir is not supposed to permit slaughter. It is a criminal offence,” says a civic official.

Corporation Health Officer Sreekumar admitted that the meat going out of the abattoir was not certified. He said moves were on to appoint a new veterinary surgeon.

The veterinary surgeon is responsible for ante-mortem examination of the animal and post-mortem inspection of the meat to eliminate the risk of bacterial infection, zoonotic diseases and food poisoning. “Some of the animals brought for slaughter are diseased. Mastitis is a commonly observed disease,” says a civic official.

The ante-mortem examination involves a visual inspection to detect pregnancy, wounds or diseases. Abnormal respiration, behaviour, gait, posture, discharges, colour or odour can be a giveaway. Emaciated animals are also weeded out.

During the post-mortem examination, the veterinary surgeon inspects the muscles, lungs and liver. Samples are subjected to detailed tests at the District Veterinary centre for diseases such as anthrax and tuberculosis. Diseased animals and contaminated meat are eliminated from public meat supply.

In the absence of a certification mechanism, the corporation is finding it difficult to crackdown on unauthorised slaughter.

The facility at Kunnukuzhy is able to meet only a fraction of the demand for meat in the city. It is estimated that, on an average, only 20 large animals and 50 small animals (goats) are brought to the abattoir every day. The daily output is less than 3,000 kg of meat, against an average daily requirement of 10,000 kg.

In the absence of service abattoirs in close proximity, unauthorised killing of animals for meat is prevalent all over the city. The major portion of the daily demand for meat is met by unhygienic slaughter-sheds attached to the city markets. Animals are butchered on the premises of hotels and houses at various places in brazen violation of public health safeguards.

A network of agents regularly supplies bovines and goats to the illegal abattoirs at Palayam, Kunjalumoodu, Thirumala, Kesavadasapuram, Vallakadavu, Peroorkada and Vattiyoorkavu. The slaughter takes place in the early hours and the meat is rushed to the hotels and markets well before the city wakes up. Official sources say many of the illegal slaughterhouses operate in miserable conditions. Diseased or dead animals are often brought for slaughter. The meat is fly-infested and contaminated with mud and other dirt. At many places, unsold meat is frozen and marketed the next day.

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